USA > West Virginia > Tucker County > History of Tucker County, West Virginia, from the earliest explorations and settlements to the present time; > Part 6
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Educational science has made wonderful strides forward during the last hunderd years; and it is probable that no department of it will ever go back to what it was then. But, in a few particulars, the systems of the present day fail where those of earlier times succeeded. If the school children of to-day should attend school no more months than they did one hundred years ago, and receive the man- ner of instruction that they now get, at the end of their school life they would not be as well prepared for business as those of that time were. Of course, in a general sense, the educational systems of to-day are in advance of those one hundred years ago; but, in the particular subjects of writing, reading and spelling, the old plan accomplished the most in a limited time. The child of the present time goes to school nearly ten times as much as those did of a century ago; yet, is the child of to-day ten times as well educated? The great contention among modern educators is to find the natural method of imparting instruction. When one looks at the A. B. C. charts, costing ten or twenty dollars, over which the child pores for four or five months, varying the exercise by drawing pictures of boxes, flower-pots, bugs and birds, and similar tomfoolery, it is almost time to stop to ask if it is not possible to lose sight altogether of the so- called natural method of imparting instruction, and wander
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off with those who spend their time and talents in telling or listening to something new.
The child probably learns as much by the time it is three years old-that is, learns as many things-as it does during any ten years of its after life. It has learned everything that it knows at three. It has learned to talk one language, and knows by sight several thousand things, and by name several hundred. All this was taught it by natural methods ; because it was too young for artificial plans to be employed. But, from that time on, its education is more and more ar- tificial, and is less and less rapidly acquired. Old theories, customs and plans must give way to the new, and it is right that it should be so; but it is meet that the new should be so constructed as to include all the good that there was in the old and something beside.
In early times, above and below St. George, the young people were accustomed to meet together on Sundays and have singing-school. The exercise had something of a re- ligious nature, inasmuch as none but sacred songs were sung. It might be compared to a Sunday-school, except that no instruction in the Testament or catechism was given. The young folks met for the purpose of having a moral and social time, injurious to none, and pleasant to all. Much of these societies is remembered by the oldest inhab- itants of the county; and, from all accounts, the exercises must have exerted a good influence over the community. Indeed, the singing-school is not yet a thing of the past, although it has changed some, probably for the better.
Incidentally connected with the singing-schools, about the commencement of the present century, there was a ro- mance that at the time was the subject of much talk along the river, and in all parts of the county. It also gives us
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an idea of the spirit of the time, and how the people then compare with those of the present time.
It seems that Manassa Minear, son of David Minear, and brother to Enoch Minear, of St. George, and to Mrs. Dr. Bonnifield, of Horse Shoe Run, had formed an attachment for Miss Lyda Holbert, a beautiful girl, who lived on the bank of Holbert Run, four miles east of St. George. A match between the young people was in no manner objec- tionable to the Minears, only that Manassa was so young. He was but eighteen ; and Miss Holbert was sixteen.
Manassa fell into the habit of visiting his affianced rather oftener than his father thought necessary; and, the result was a rumpus in the Minear family, and Manassa was told to go a little less frequently. This did not discourage the young man in the least. The next Sunday there was sing- ing-school in the Horse Shoe, and all the youngsters for miles around went as usual. Manassa and Lyda were there, and between them they made it up that he was to accom- pany her home. His brothers and sisters tried hard to persuade him not to go, as the old gentleman would cer- tainly grumble. But, Manassa said, let him grumble, and went ahead. Lyda also said, let him grumble, and they two went off together, in company with the other young people who went that way. But, the rest of the Minears returned to St. George and reported what had taken place. Mr. Minear was much put out of humor, and after studying over the matter two or three hours, he decided to go in person and settle the matter.
Manassa and Lyda enjoyed the fine walk from the Horse Shoe to Holbert Run, about two miles. They had crossed the river at the Willow Point in a canoe ; and, thence home, the path was a pleasant one. It lay across the wide bottom
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from the river to Low Gap, then all woods; and from the Low Gap home was about a mile, and this, too, was nearly all woods. No doubt, the walk of two miles on that fine June morning was a short one to them.
Tradition does not inform us how the day, from noon till evening was passed at the Holbert cabin; but circumstan- ces justify us in supposing that all went merry and well. It could not have been otherwise ; for, Manassa and Lyda could not quarrel, and the oldl folks were glad to have Ma- nassa visit their daughter, for he belonged to one of the first families of the county and was, indeed, a promising young man. Be this as it may, he was there yet when the sun was just sinking behind Jonathan Point. He and Lyda were sitting alone in the yard, under a young walnut tree. The dead frame of this tree still stands, although it is a big one now, It might still be living but for a slight accident that happened it some seventeen years ago. Two boys, Henry Bonnifield, now of California, and Wilson Maxwell, of St. George, both little fellows then, tried to catch a red squir- rel that was on the fence by the tree. Wilson had a hoe handle (they had been hoeing corn in a field hard by) and was trying his best to knock the squirrel as high as the Pyramids of Egypt. But; while going through gestures, and swinging the hoe-handle to give it all the force possi- ble, he skinned his knuckles on the old walnut tree. This made him mad, and with an ax, which lay near, he dead- ened the tree, and it died. The squirrel, in the meantime, got away.
The sun was just setting; and, no doubt, the world looked beautiful to Manassa and Lyda as they sat under that lit- tle walnut tree, {with none near enough to hear what they might say. The whole day had been pleasant; and, now so
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fair an evening to terminate all, was truly delightful. But, it was not to be so. The evening which now looked so beautiful to the young couple, soon appeared to them the ugliest they had ever seen. For, presently foot steps were heard approaching, and when Manassa and Lyda looked up they saw the massive frame of David Minear coming up. Manassa's heart sank within him; for, he knew what was at hand. Lyda also looked scared. But, they said not a word, and the old gentleman walked boldly up and com- menced flourishing a hickory withe, and uttered words to the effect that he wanted the young man home early enough Monday morning to go to hoeing potatoes when the other boys did. Manassa making no movement toward starting, the old gentleman with still more emphasis ordered him to "skedaddle for home." He realized his situation; and · casting toward Lyda one look, which seemed to say, good- bye, for the present, and receiving one of sympathy from her, he bounded off down the hill, with the old gentleman at his heels wolloping him with the withe every jump. Poor Lyda felt for Manassa, but she could not reach him. She saw him dodging this way and that way to escape the thrashing, and saw him bound with extra buoyancy when- ever an extra swoop fell upon his shoulders. She also heard some of the words which the old gentleman spoke, and they fell heavily upon her; for, he was telling Manassa that just as many jumps as it took him to get home, that many weeks it would be before he should come back. The young man apparently realized the force of the argument, and was trying to get to St. George with as few jumps as possible. Indeed, it looked to Lyda that he was going ten rods at a bound. All the while, the hickory was falling across his back with amazing rapidity. The scene was of short dura-
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tion ; for, while she was still silently sitting under the tree and looking toward them, they disappeared in the thicket, and, after a little ripping and tearing through the brush, all was still.
The scenes and conversations that followed at the Hol- bert cabin, as well as at Minear's, we can only imagine. But, the result of the whole affair might plainly have been foreseen. Thrashing the young man is not the proper way to break him from waiting upon the girl of his choice. So it proved in this case. Manassa resolved to marry the fair young Lyda, no matter who should oppose. She was as fully resolved to brave all opposition in her attachment for him. When two young people arrive at this conclusion, it is useless for relatives or any one else to interfere. Such opposition may delay but cannot prevent the final consum- mation of the lovers' plans. In this case, however, the Holbert family did all they could to assist the young couple, so the opposition was all on one side.
Manassa and Lyda laid plans to elope and get married. But David Minear knew nothing of it. He supposed that the thrashing had broken up the affair, and that Manassa would pursue his foolish course no further.
It was again on Sunday, and the young people of St. George started to the singing-school in the Horse Shoe. Manassa Minear started with the others; but he had no intention of the singing. It was now in the fall of the year. His course of love, since it had been interrupted on that summer evening, had not run as smoothly as a poetical river. However, he had managed to see Lyda in the mean- time, and had arranged it with her and the rest of the fam- ily that she should elope with him at any time he should call for her.
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On that morning, instead of crossing the river at the Horse Shoe Ford, as he should have done to have gone to the singing, he continued up the north bank, unobserved by his companions, who were some distance ahead of him. He was on horseback this time. He went directly to Holbert's and told Lyda to get on the horse behind him, and not to loose much time. He explained the nature of the case. She was a brave girl, and did not waste a moment in getting ready. Her brother caught the only horse belonging to the family, and was ready to accompany them. Lyda got on behind Manassa, and they were off for Maryland. It was not yet noon, but they did not wait for dinner. They knew that the Minears would follow them; and the success of the undertaking depended upon speed. They followed the lit- tle path leading up Horse Shoe Run. This they traveled seven miles, and then turned up Lead Mine, by the old trail marked out by Capt. James Parsons. Thus they reached Maryland, and were formally married.
When the young people who went to the singing returned to St. George, they reported that Manassa had not been there, nor Lyda either. It was at once suspected that he had gone to Holbert's, and David Minear followed again, determined to bring matters to a crisis. He went to Hol- bert's house, and not seeing Manassa, asked if he had been there. They answered him that he called a few minutes, but must be twenty miles away by that time. Holberts expected to see him fly into a passion at this disclosure ; but they were disappointed. He questioned them closely about the matter, and when the young couple was expected back. When they had answered him, he said that if they were married, it was all right, as it was no use to make a fuss about it. He left an invitation for them to come down
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as soon as they returned, and with this he went home. They were entirely successful, and got safely home the third day.
If the memories of old people are to be credited in the matter, the young couple did not find the course of married life as poetical as they had expected. For, though Lyda was young, she had a great deal of industry about her, and she made Manassa work harder than he wanted to, and he got tired of it, and, to keep from hoeing in the truck-patch, he dug a hole under the fence in a weedy corner and toled the hogs in. This did not mend matters much, for Lyda found it out, and made him build new fences around every lot on the place; and, besides, made him build a pen for the hogs, and then pull weeds all summer to feed them.
CHAPTER IV.
MISCELLANIES.
THE material for a chapter on the history of Tucker County for two score years next following the close of the Indian troubles, in 1781, is meager in the extreme. Almost nothing at all, of an exciting nature, is left on record. The Indian wars were at an end, and no massacres or exploits or adventures are to be narrated. It was a silent epoch in our history. But, as Carlyle teaches, these silent periods in the history of a people are the most prolific of great things, It is a time when everything is building. Every man is attending to his own work. No great interference disturbs
the welfare of all. The whole country is thriving together, · and there is no jar or collision to attract attention. It is
not the building up but the tearing down that constitutes the violent crashes in a people's annals. It has been rep- resented similar to a tree that grows noiselessly for a thou- sand years; but, when the whirlwind overthrows it, it falls with a crash. Thus a nation grows and grows for ages, and if everything is prosperous, not a discord tells of exist- ence. But, when commotions or rebellions overthrow it, the fall is heard
To Macedonand Artaxerxes' throne.
But, this digression is out of place in a county history. However, this book is not meant to be a history of Tucker County. It is designed only as a series of annals, and is not intended to be a complete history. But, while this is the case, nothing on the subject, deemed worthy to be remem-
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bered, will be left untold. There is little material, of the nature of Acts of the Legislature and railroad and turn- pike meetings and resolutions, from which to fill a book. But, if there were tons of such, they would be given very little attention by the writer of these pages. Tucker County has never had any great movements on these subjects. All of importance that the Legislature has ever done for Tucker can be told in ten lines. The reports of road surveys, and the meetings consequent thereon, can be dismissed with still less attention. Therefore, another class of material must be had. The people of our county do not care about the proceedings of Congress and the Legislature in matters now forgotten, that never were of much importance and are now of none. This is, at best, a dry subject to all, except a very few, who, for some special reason, are interested therein.
But Tucker County possesses exhaustless stores of mat- ter that is of interest to her people. It is the biography of her people ; an account of what the people have done. Each man has done something, or said something, or tried to do something that his friends and neighbors would like to know. Of course, every man cannot be represented in a book of this size. Many who deserve a history must be left out, because there is not room for all. It is a hard thing to decide who shall be made the leading spirits for the hundred years after the close of the Indian wars to the present time. Before that, Capt. James Parsons and John Minear were clearly the most prominent men. But, since then, there are a few individuals around whom the history of the county seems to cluster.
Those who have fought the most battles are not necessa- rily the greatest men. The laborers who dug out the grubs
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from our valleys and hills ; who planted our orchards; who built our churches and school-houses ; who made our roads ; who improved the morals and intelligence of the country by their examples of honesty and industry; who were ever ready to lend a helping hand to the unfortunate; who never hung back when a good cause needed friends; who did to others as they wished others to do to them-these are our great men. Such are always great; and Tucker, though hemmed in by mountains and nearly excluded from other parts of the world, has now, and has had from the first, just such men. They are found everywhere upon her hills and in her valleys. They are not all rich in this world's goods ; but none of them are too poor to be honest. They have not all held office; they have not all fought battles; they have not all seen distant countries ; but they have all been upright citizens, and have done well what they have done.
Tucker County likewise has had and still has men who have taken an active part in our wars, and in our times of danger, were ever in the front. The history of James Par- sons and John Minear has been given. Since their day there have been others none the less worthy to be remem- bered.
During the civil war the struggle was intense and bitter in this county. The two parties, north and south, were nearly equal. The mountains and fastnesses were the rendezvous for scouts and sharpshooters. The history of the war, as it influenced this section of the county, will be given at some length further on. No sides will be taken in writing on that subject. Some of our best citizens took the side of the South, and others equally good espoused the cause of the North. The men who thus arrayed themselves against each other in that deadly strife, were honest and
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conscientious in what they did. They upheld and fought for what they belived to be right. When a man risks his life for a cause, he believes that the cause is right. This must not be questioned. Some of our brave men joined the Fed- eral armies, and some the Confederate. Honor to the blue and gray. The storm is now passed beyond the horizon ; and, there is no occasion to recall those dark and bloody times except to show that we had men then who did not shrink from duty. Such men as Dr. Solomon Parsons stood up for the Union; and such as Dr. E. Harper cast the fortunes into the cause of Confederacy. Both, and all like them, deserve a place in our county's history, no matter whether they loved the stars and stripes or stars and bars. But, this will come in at the proper time and place.
When the Indian trouble ended, about 1781, our county had only a few people. The settlement did not extend far from the river. The people worked hard, and took few holidays. They had to earn their bread by the sweat of their brows, and no time was allowed for idleness. The heavy timber was removed from it only by excessive labor. The farmers worked in their clearings during the late fall, the winter and the early spring. When summer came they were employed in raising their crop of corn. The people generally ate corn bread. Wheat was nearly unknown in the early years. A portion of the autumn was often spent by the men in hunting deer and bear.
It is difficult to give particulars of individuals who lived in the county in the latter part of the last century and the first of this. Some are remembered; but little more than their names come down to us. James Goff seems to have been one of the leading men in early times. He lived on Cheat River, near the Preston County line, and at one time
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owned the greater portion of the land from the Minear claim to Rowlesburg. He worked incessantly on his farms, and always had corn to sell. His price was fifty cents a bushel; and, no matter what other people sold at, he would take nothing more or less than his price. His house had no floor, except the ground. They ate bread and meat at his house. This diet was unvaried, except when a pot of "greens"-a dish of some plant cooked-was substituted for meat; or a kettle of corn meal mush took the place of bread. All were welcome to the hospitalities of his cabin, although a stranger might have thought the family rough in manners. They did not mean to be rude. They were open in their actions. Indeed, the eastern land agent, who stopped there over night, must have thought so. He sat by the fire talking and wondering where supper was coming from. He could see no preparations for the evening meal, except a big pot at one end of the fireplace, where Mrs. Goff sat stirring the kettle's contents. At length it was carried to the central part of the floor, and a gourd of milk was emptied into it, and a dozen wooden spoons were provided.
While the hungry stranger was watching these proceed- ings, and wondering what the sequence would be, Mrs. Goff announced that supper was ready. Mr. Goff sat a moment and then dragged his stool up to the mush-pot, saying to the visitor : "Well, if you don't want any supper, you can sit there." The children were already around the kettle, scooping out the mush and milk with the large wooden spoons, and seeming to enter with gusto into the repast. Mr. and Mrs. Goff joined the circle; and all fell to eating with such voracity that no time was left for asking or an- swering questions. No cups or dishes were used. All ate
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directly from the pot, and there was no little crowding from those who feared that they might not get their full share.
The stranger got no other invitation to eat; but, by this time, he had come to see that he would get no supper un- less he should go boldly forward, seize a spoon and take his chances with the rest. This he did. He pulled his stool forward and commenced eating. Mr. Goff crowded a little to one side, remarking with an oath: "By -, I thought you'd come to it." The meal passed without further inci- dent, and the next morning the land agent fled back to Winchester with a story that no one there believed.
That same year there was a scarcity in the country. Goff had corn, but hardly anybody else had. People came from all parts to buy from him. Two young men came down from the Glades in Maryland. One had been there before ; but the other had not. The one who had been there entertained the other, while on the road, by picturing to him what a grand residence Goff's was, and admonished him not to show himself ill-bred by undue staring about the pictured walls and carpeted floors. By the time they drew near the plantation, the young man, who had believed all that his companion had told him, was looking for a splendid residence, and picturesque surroundings. Mark his surprise when he came suddenly up to the front, and only, door of the log cabin. He was immediately ushered in at the opening. He was looking so wildly about him that he did not notice the log that formed the door-sill; and, stumbling over it, he fell headlong into the house. Instead of landing upon Brussels carpet, as he might have expected, he found himself sprawling in the dust and ashes of the earth-floor. Not till then did he realize that he had been made the subject of a practical joke.
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The land which Goff settled upon had previously been occupied by a man named Jorden. It is not known when Jorden left it or when Goff purchased it. But, Goff was there in 1786. He was an untiring worker; and, old men still remember how he made his boys work. In the long days of June, when daylight comes at four, he would be in the corn-field before the first 'gleam of dawn. He never called his boys to work, nor even waked them; but, if any one was not in the field as soon as it was light enough to distinguish weeds from corn, that one got a sound thrashing.
Of course, by working so hard he made money. What he made he saved. He would not spend a cent for any- thing, unless it was absolutely necessary. He kept his cash in a buck-skin sack, and buried it in one corner of the dirt floor. In the course of time, he came to be a considerable money-lender. Those who came to borrow often marked with surprise that he picked up a handspike which was used as a poker, and dug deep into the ground-floor, and turned out the foul sack, filled with silver and gold.
When James Parsons had obtained deeds for his lands in the Horse Shoe, he divided them among his three sons- Isaac, Solomon and Jonathan. Isaac lived where Joseph Parsons, Esq., now resides. The farm now owned by Mr. S. B. Wamsley, was given to Jonathan; and Hon. S. E. Parsons now owns the farm that was allotted to Solomon.
Thomas Parsons, brother of James Parsons, and partner with him when they first purchased their lands, divided his lands among his four sons-William, James, Isaac and George. The descendants of these, as well as those of James Parsons, still reside on these farms. Nicholas and George Parsons, still living, are the sons of Isaac, and grandsons of Thomas. The late W. R. Parsons, and An-
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